Nelson council endorses Cottonwood Market Concept
Bill Metcalfe, Star 23 Mar, 2016
The budget for the market could exceed $600.000 (elsewhere 750.000) through possible participation of Kalesnikoff Lumber, the Interior Lumber Manufacturers Association and Spearhead Timberworks ($150.000 to $200.000), the Regional District of Central Kootenay and Columbia Basin Trust ($200.000 to $300.000), local businesses, in-kind and cash ($50.000 to $100.000) and other grants.
With Council not questioning the absurd nothingness of all this, just as it hadn't questioned the even less earlier declaration by City Staff to Council that an unnamed local business intends to contribute significantly to building the new structures - Star, 19 Nov, 2015. This unnamed community partner even and totally inappropriately featured prominently in the official Request for Decision asking Council for an initial $12.600 to fund a market pre-plan plan.
Kevin Cormack, CAO, in the same meeting saying that the unnamed business deals in wood.
Council ending-up approving a combined 42.600 tax-dollars for the project. After asking way too few pertinent questions!
In fact - all issues raised, questions posed in this blog and my current letter in the Star since the oddly reasoned/timed demolition of the Cottonwood Market as was should have been part of Council's job - before approving (of what precisely?) now altogether $82.600.
But this post is not a focus on money as such but lumber/wood leading to trees leading to logging leading to watersheds leading to - the West Kootenay EcoSociety.
The EcoSociety (and Market-project) is run by David Reid - often critical of what's perceived as wanton wood-chucking - the tree-huggers' nightmare. Making him, them and the wood-chuckers strange bed-fellows, indeed! One would think!
Kalesnikoff Lumber (KL) is a major head-scratcher in this context: why would they want to get into this menage?
Weeell - even since before the first time the Cottonwood Market Replacement came before Council, the citizenry of Glade has been in strong opposition to KL's planned logging in their area: greatly concerned for the Glade watershed because of these projected activities.
For details google Kalesnikoff Glade.
Seeing that Glade is located in the West Kootenays and a possible loudly vocal critic to be found in the West Kootenay EcoSociety: putting a contribution their way may be a P.R. move. Not to be overlooked: Kalesnikoff is not even located in Nelson - while in the West Kootenays - so what could their interest possibly be in a Nelson farmers' market?
This may also be asked of the other wood-chuckers - named/unnamed - as possible financial contributors!
Council? Please?
No matter what - one needs to wonder about a conflict-or-not of principles (the old Hillary thing!) between Reid's Jumbo agendas and even just considering to accept funding from a source currently with a huge environmental-image problem.
Public Perception!
The job of the media is not to protect the powerful from embarrassment.
Simon Jenkins
Alain Truong
Linda Hughes
This directly follows post
Downmarket
26 Mar, 2016
After handing $30.000 to David Reid a few weeks ago for something maybe possibly perhaps vaguely connected with a Cottonwood Market: City Council now adds another 40.000 bucks - partly for the same maybe possibly perhaps vaguely connected purpose and partly because of an impressive new name Reid pastes on the thing.
1. The Money
Among 36 applicants for funding from Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) - the EcoSociety - meaning Reid - receives most by far: at 40.000 4 times as much as the applicant next at the public trough. Most of the rest get way less than even 10.000. Or nothing!
There is something distasteful about this. If he had applied for less (actually he wanted 42.000!), and/or Council for a moment came out of its Reid-swoon: there could have been more for the more deserving. We need to remember that instead of the Hollywood Bowl Reid wants now - all we originally were to get from him was a modest replacement for Cottonwood (Farmers') Market as such.
Proportional to their request most applicants receive way less than Reid, who walks with close to 30% of the total funding available.
For a detailed break-down see
Nelson council decides 2016 community initiative grants
Nelson Star, Apr 20, 2016
2. The Name
Cottonwood Park Public Performance & Market Building
Just the name seems to suggest what I have been advocating for a long time: an exceptionally designed building housing a multi-purpose indoor cultural center - THE HEART - including a part-time farmers' market. Open every day with various regular activities, special events and a cafe. Locked during off-hours, safe.
But beyond the misleading name the Reid/Armstrong vision is none of that. What's in a name? This name .....
Cottonwood Park
What becomes clear in their proposal is that they have expanded their rather small playground by just-like-that appropriating the Shuzenji Garden - according to Mayor Kozak: a jewel in the city - and renaming all Cottonwood Park. Or just the park.
Yet without Jim Sawada's Garden there is no Park - period. Does he know what may happen to his labor of love?
Clearly - a basic, easily done common-sense environmental-impact study necessary to protect the jewel from Reid's envisioned crowds of revelers is a non-issue to them. This is somewhat baffling - what with Reid being the local go-to eco-guy! Or used to be! Gone Hollywood now.
Public Performance
Worth noting is that in the name (and importance!) Public Performance precedes Market. Performing in public simply is sexier than schlepping veg for dinner.
But what is a public performance? As opposed to a private performance? Is it free to the general public? What with the location's idiosyncracies: ticketing performances will be pointless. But then - will these acts do whatever unpaid? If not - who's paying them? Maybe Council.
Explanations would be good - but there haven't been any!
Market
You may remember that all this started out as a replacement for the Cottonwood (Farmers') Market. Only!
But seriously - a market-replacement here is unnecessary: while we loved the Market of old - what's to love about the new market-afterthought!
The Wednesday one on Baker is just fine, and we could always have a repeat there on Saturday - maybe with a block added. Tourists would love it!
Building
Renderings/schematics do not show a single Building - an enclosed structure: roof, doors, windows - but a series of separate shelters: open all around, through-and-through, from the top down and bottom up. Reid calls them light and airy - actually they will be wet and drafty. Without seating - and their possible (while not probable) use pretty much within the same time-frame as that of the Market of old - wetcoldrainsnow making anything a no-go.
So there you have it: one man's vanity project financed by Council - bless their hearts! - with 82.600 dollars (so far) and next to no parking.
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Rossland wins federal voter challenge
Nelson Star, 5 Apr, 2016
Before the last federal election some Nelsonites organize a Community Voter Challenge (not a federal voter challenge - as in the Star's header) in which participating communities would attempt to outdo each other in somehow increasing their voter turnout over that of 2011. Percentages.
Nelson ends-up 5th - oops! - in a total of 9, while Rossland wins. And Mayor Kathy Moore comes to Nelson to pick-up the award.
This is not where the story ends - but how it begins.
Regardless!
Late 2011
As City Councillor - Moore starts to dig into what has been perceived for several years as irregularities in municipal procedure: more specifically - she openly explores a recent case of questionable tender-or-not and connected cost-overruns at City Hall.
Also see blog-post
Kathy Moore, City Councillor
1 May, 2014
What with Smallishtown politics being very personal, business being very personal and the personal being very cliquish: beyond the usual furtive ducking and weaving she gets little decisive support from anyone at City Hall for her Action Plan. Regardless - over time she mostly single-handed takes-on just about everybody in connection with: Mayor, CAO, CFO - the lot. It's the proverbial taking-on-city-hall - all of it! - but from the inside!
And gaining considerable in-your-face support from a public kept exhaustively well-informed by news-media - like the online version of The Castlegar News.
3 Jan, 2013
After a very public meeting with His Worship Mayor Granstrom - with very blunt questions backed into a corner of his own making - The Castlegar News quotes an attending citizen with "I want to publicly thank Coun. Moore for her steadfast integrity, and I heartily recommend her as role model for the rest of council," Holmes said. (Long applause)
25 Jan, 2013
Strong public support in a very vocal public-input session is instrumental in pushing Rossland Council to pass Moore's motion to request that BC's new Auditor General for Local Government (AGLG) investigate the big picture of policy, procedure and governance in Rossland that may have contributed to the ... arena scandal. As per The Castlegar News, 30 Jan, 2013.
Eventually the AGLG in Victoria agrees with Moore's concerns and makes several recommendations.
Nov, 2014
Kathy Moore is elected mayor of Rossland with 3 times the number of votes as her opponent. Granstrom - running for council! - is left in the slipstream.
So you see - Rossland being first in the Community Voter Challenge is no surprise. It now has a mayor whose work-ethic is stupendous - formerly as councillor simply doing what needed to be done: her job. Regardless. And a very pro-active electorate is paying attention.
